Curriculum 

The Early Years Foundation Stage

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) is described as “the ways in which the child engages with other people and their environment – playing and exploring, active learning, and creating and thinking critically- underpin learning, and development across all areas and support the child to remain an effective and motivated learner.” (Development Matters in the Early Years Foundation Stage, 2012. Pg 4)

The EYFS is made up of three ‘prime’ areas and four ‘specific’ areas.  “The prime areas begin to develop quickly in response to relationships and experiences, and run through and support learning in all other areas.  The prime areas continue to be fundamental throughout the EYFS.  The specific areas include essential skills and knowledge. They grow out of the prime areas, and provide important contexts for learning.” (Development Matters in the Early Years Foundation Stage, 2012. Pg 4)

(Development Matters in the Early Years Foundation Stage, 2012. Pg 5)

All children will be assigned a Key Person before they start nursery to ensure a smooth settling in process.  They will then be responsible for you and your family during your time with us.

Additional Needs

Our nursery Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCo) is Sharon.  An array of training has been undertaken and termly support meetings are attended to keep knowledge up to date.  Examples of training that Sharon has attended includes:

• SENCo induction and SENCo induction plus
• Makaton for Beginners
• Language Group
• Portage Initial Training
• The Hampshire outline for meeting the needs of the under-5s on the Autistic Spectrum (THOMAS)
• Positive Approaches to Challenging Behaviour

If you or the nursery SENCo has identified an area of need and gained your written consent to include the Area Inclusion Coordinator, together they will liaise with each other and she will advise referrals to other agencies if needed. At all times, you are included in the process and invited to meetings if you wish to attend.  We will also arrange a meeting with you every 6 weeks to discuss your child’s progress at home and at nursery. Any issues/concerns you may have are also discussed, offering advice where needed. Together we also come up with next steps to support your child’s learning. A summary of the meeting is then given to you for your own records.  We have access to a range of professionals as and when they are needed for the children attending the setting. These professionals currently include Speech and Language Therapist, Area Inclusion Co-ordinator, Family Outreach Worker, Educational Physiologist and our local children’s centre.  If further expertise are needed, we will make contact with the relevant professionals.

For further information, please have a look at our Hampshire Local Offer which can be found by typing the following into an internet search bar.

https://fish.hants.gov.uk/kb5/hampshire/directory/service.page?id=xZf4Hq6c82s&familychannel=1-1